Bill Ecker, DBIA, LEED AP | Principal

Advocate. Mentor. Quick-witted. Construction Expert.

With a 31-year career in construction that spans many roles and responsibilities, Bill Ecker plays a unique role at KMB architects, deploying his deep knowledge and valuable perspective as a builder to benefit both our clients and our staff. Before joining KMB architects, Bill worked in project management and business development for regional general contractors operating in the federal, municipal, and educational markets, in addition to running his own company building high end homes.

“The A/E/C industry is one of the few places in the world where the prototype is the final, so you have to get it right the first time. You never build the same building twice.”

As an owner’s representative and project manager, Bill anticipates our clients’ needs and aids them in decision making while advocating for their best interests throughout the planning, design, and construction processes. For our staff, Bill offers mentorship in constructability, sequencing, and estimating, which aids the architectural staff in considering the project from a contractor’s perspective. Because of his well-rounded background in construction, Bill is called upon to bring his viewpoint to pre-design studies, the development of scopes of work, the creation of high-level cost estimates, and construction administration services. Bill’s responsiveness and willing attitude, coupled with his sense of humor and ability to “keep it light,” cause our clients and staff to repeatedly seek out his expertise.

“My guiding principle in finding solutions is this: always ask yourself ‘what is the problem that I’m trying to solve?’”

Because of Bill’s background providing preconstruction services, he’s often tapped to contribute to pre-design studies and to offer his insights on construction costs during design. The firm embraces the fact that Bill is not an architect — welcoming his contractor’s point of view to improve outcomes for clients and to improve systems within the firm. Bill’s willingness to help is only rivaled by his positive attitude and sense of humor, which creates camaraderie and a sense of ease for those collaborating with him.

“As one of the senior members of the firm, I’m a good source of cautionary advice. I’ve been through things that went wrong on projects, and it’s good if you can learn from that. It’s even better if you can teach other people from that experience.”

Bill’s hobbies are equally diverse, covering car racing, dog training, and music. On the weekends, you may find Bill racing his 1988 BMW 325 on a road course or training his two German Shepherd dogs. Recently, Bill began race coaching military veterans through the Ranger Road program, a non-profit organization which brings together vets and civilians to use the sport of road racing as a modality to cope with PTSD.

Bill and his wife of 25 years are huge music aficionados, boasting attendance at over 200 live shows — ranging in size from a stadium filled with fellow Bruce Springsteen fans to an intimate, 8-person show by James “Slim” Hand. Bill also plays many instruments, and used to front his own band, “The Unmarked Bills” where all his fellow bandmates were named “Mark”, and they regularly played Olympia’s Capital Lakefair.